Airtel, Idea gain on speculation govt will cut spectrum price

MUMBAI: Shares of Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular today defied broader market sentiment and settled with 1.4-3.7 per cent gains on speculation that government will cut reserve price for airwaves after just one company Sistema Shyam bid for next month's auction.

Leading GSM incumbent Bharti Airtel surged nearly 9 per cent (8.96 per cent) during the day to touch an intra-day high of Rs 334.55. The stock pared some gains to end at Rs 311.30, a rise of 1.38 per cent from its last close.

In a single trading session, the market cap of the company improved by Rs 1,613 crore to Rs 1.18 lakh crore.

Similar movement was witnessed on the Idea Cellular counter as well. The stock after opening at Rs 114.45, surged over 4.43 per cent from its previous closing price and touched an early high of Rs 118.85 on the BSE. It finally ended the day at Rs 118, up 3.69 per cent.

Persuant to the surge in the counter, the market worth of the company increased by Rs 1,401 crore to Rs 39,091 crore.

The BSE benchmark index Sensex today widened early losses to end 316.55 points down at 3-month low of 19,015.14.

"At the time of close on the last date for receipt of applications... one applicant, namely, SSTL (Sistema Shyam Teleservices) registered for the auction of 800 MHz spectrum and no applicants registered for the auction of 1800 and 900 MHz spectrum," DoT said in a statement.

Commenting on the uptrend in the stocks, brokers said the government's 2G spectrum auction next month looks set to flop and possibility is strong that a sharp cut in the reserve auction price of remaining airwaves may be in offing.

DoT said it now place the issue before Empowered Group of Ministers who will decide on the auction of 1800 and 900 Mhz band through a third round of auction.

"The quantum of spectrum, the reserve price and the timelines for this auction will be decided after necessary directions are obtained from the EGOM and where required, the cabinet, in this regard," DoT said.